When Gods Choose to Meddle
by enchantrez
Summary: Give me a carriage tussle, some lightning, furious Gods, a fiesty red-head, a duke who's too big for his breeches, and PRESTO! You've got my Alanna fic!
1. Prologue

**_Disclaimer:_** Rightie-o's! This message is for all of you deluded fools out there who seriously believe that the places mentioned and the characters who star in this wonderful (hopefully!) story belong to me. Alanna, Alan, Thom, Maude, Tortall, Corus, even the Convent of the Mother of Mountains - EVERYTHING, ANYPLACE and ANYONE - belong to **Tamora Pierce**, the Divine One. I can only lay claim on Meriyane (name only, not position) and perhaps future characters and locations. D'you understand? Basically, everything that is familiar to all you TP fans do NOT, I choose to repeat, DO NOT, belong to anyone BUT **Tamora Pierce**, although everything that is unfamiliar to you belongs to me. 

**WHEN GODS CHOOSE TO MEDDLE.**

**~ Prologue ~**

Alanna of Trebond, the eldest daughter of Lord Alan of Trebond, peered out the carriage windows, dismay clear in her strange violet eyes. To her consternation, she was going to have to spend six years at the Convent of the Mother of Mountains, learning to be a desirable court lady, while her twin brother, Thom of Trebond, was to be sent to the Royal Palace in Corus, the capital city of Tortall, in the hopes of his becoming a worthy and honourable knight of the realm.   
While Thom was the closet thing to Alanna's heart, she knew full well that Thom - who was known to visibly flinch if the steward of Trebond, Coram Smythesson, so much as said the word 'hunting' - would make quite a sorry excuse for a page, a squire, and ultimately, a knight. What made it worse was that her twin knew what she knew for a fact, and did not even posses the will nor the spirit, to see through years full of hard training that was his inevitable fate. It was _she_, not Thom, who respected, admired and loved the fighting arts, just like it was _he_, not Alanna, who craved the power and knowledge that can be found inside and outside an individuals magical gift. Thom was the twin who shirked away from the manly arts of fighting; who instead embraced his potent gift, and who _thirsted_ for complete knowledge on wielding his gift. Alanna, on the other hand, was the twin who had an undeniable spirit and naturalness for the warrior's craft, who feared her gift, and who had a burning desire to become the first female knight of Tortall in over a century.  
Alanna sighed, fiery curls flipping over her face. She knew that there was no way she could evade the predictable destiny of all nobly born girls. Three days ago, she _might_ have had a slight chance of escaping a future filled with lace, kohl, dainty slippers and slobbery lords, but that had all changed when her father, a noted and famed scholar, had surprisingly lifted his head from the piles of musty scrolls and books which he for so long had immersed himself in, and noticed that Alanna was dressed like Thom, and Thom was dressed like Alanna. The twins of Trebond had sorely underestimated their father, for he had quickly seen through Alanna's ingenious yet desperate scheme, a scheme which would have had Thom and Alanna disguising both their personage, forging letters and eventually switching places, so that Alanna would arrive at the palace as Alan of Trebond - the younger, nonexistent son of Lord Alan - and Thom appearing at the Convent in order to learn sorcery.   
After facing Lord Alan's wrath, albeit a distant wrath it was, it was clear that there would be no other way for Alanna and Thom to achieve their heart's desires. She would become a proper lady, married to a lord who only cared for her dowry, and would most probably die in childbed, like her mother, Meriyane had. Thom would become a knight, but would most definitely choose to be a scholar knight, similar to their father.   
Either way, neither twin was pleased at their very, very probable fates.   
"Now, now lass. Surely learning the ways of a noble lady should not prove a daunting task for a girl of your bravery?" The gentle, yet often sharp, voice of Maude, Trebond's healing woman, freed Alanna from her own bleak thoughts. She looked at Maude, her violet gaze, usually so lively, reflecting how miserable she felt inside. The fact that she did not even bother to snap at Maude was a clear indication of how _broken_ her inner self was. Her pale hand rose from lap, and tugged at the fiery red curls framing her face. After Lord Alan had discovered Alanna's clever plot, he had been displeased, to say the least, to see that Alanna's long, red tresses had been shorn off (if Alanna were to have arrived at the palace as a boy, she could have hardly had long hair!). So displeased was he, that he, a man who despised magic and who forbade his only children from using their magical gifts, actually ordered Maude to employ magic to grow back Alanna's hair to a suitable, maidenly length - down to the small of her back. The obvious unhappiness that Alanna displayed at both the length of her hair, and the unwanted future which she would have to accept and live without complaint, was enough to nibble at her very being. Maude had raised Alanna, and before that, she had been a friend of Alanna's mother, Meriyane of Trebond, the most precious possession of Lord Alan, and the most vivacious and lovable woman she had ever met. Distracted for a moment, Maude allowed herself to smile, remembering Lady Meriyane's bright, tinkling laughter, the air of innocence that always seemed to have cloaked her, the looks of love frequently traded between her and her husband, the sunlight bouncing over her golden hair as she sat in the gardens, conversing with the common village folk, and finally, the joy that she had expressed when she saw the small bodies of her twin children, alive and well, managing to find peace and serenity in the moment, despite the obvious fact that she was dying. It did not suit Maude to see Meriyane's daughter so downright despondent. Searching for anything that would lift Alanna's spirit, she said, "Take comfort child. The Great Mother Goddess watches over you." Maude was, of course, referring to the Goddess who was the sworn protector of all women, and who had, if Maude were to be believed, Her hand on Alanna, and before that, Alanna's own mother, Lady Meriyane.  
The quiet hopelessness that had filled Alanna's lithe, blue satin clad body disappeared, and in its place charged raw fury.  
"How DARE you mention Her name? If the Great Mother Goddess WAS looking out for me, Maude, d'you REALLY think that She would have allowed me to be forced into such a miserable fate? If the Mother was TRULY watching over me, d'you think She would have just stood by and watched as my hopes and dreams were shattered just like Cook's sanity was momentarily shattered when he claimed to have seen lions in the kitchen? If SHE actually had Her HAND on me, d'you actually believe that She would have allowed my own mother, who according to you, worshipped Her diving being, to be taken away from the life which she loved so much?" Blazing, violet eyes met Maude's clear own, and, almost against her will, Maude found herself shrinking back against the plush carriage seat, not wanting to admit it, but wise enough to understand that she felt fear at Alanna's evident rage.  
The village healer opened her mouth, wanting to stop Alanna's ire from rising further. "No," Alanna snapped. "I don't want to hear it!" The air around Alanna began to glow with Alanna's strong, magical, violet gift. Outside, the once blue sky, was now ominously dark, and rain had began to splatter down hard, lightning choosing to accompany the rain. The petite girl's fiery red hair wisped around her violently, and momentarily, Alanna gladly lost herself in the purple depths of her gift. For a while, at least, she was not afraid of her magic. "The Great Mother Goddess has done nothing for me, NOTHING!! I, the daughter of Trebond, choose to denou---"  
CLASH! The carriage jumped brutally, tossing the two females inside around and about, thankfully stopping Alanna from finishing her dramatic, yet coldly sensible, proclamation. Maude had a feeling she knew what Alanna had intended to say, and she knew that the future consequences when one denounces a god were not at all pleasant.  
Suddenly, the jostling of the carriage became, if possible, even more violent. Alanna, lips bleeding in her determined effort to stop herself from squealing like a pitiful girl, saw that Maude had slumped against the carriage walls, unconscious.  
The elfin red-haired felt some concern for Maude, and also, some guilt for having had lost her temper quite so impressively, although she knew that the storm was most definitely NOT her doing. Soon, Alanna knew no more, only that she had slipped into a cool, black, blank abyss, with the fleeting thought, _"Am I dying??"_

***

As the carriage with the Trebond emblem tumbled into momentary oblivion, a woman, dressed in a flowing, richly made, golden gown stood by, watching the scene, pain clear in her eyes. Her long, golden hair spilled over her slender shoulders, and, like the rest of her being, remained unmolested by the torrent of rain that continued to fall relentlessly. For a moment, she just stood there, gazing sorrowfully at the carriage that was once jerking uncontrollably, but was now deathly still.  
A presence appears at her back, though she does not bother to turn, knowing that she would not see the immortal presence. "It is how it will be, my lady."   
The golden clad woman nods resignedly at the void like voice. Suddenly, her eyes, a brilliant violet, glows bright for a second, and a pale, white glow covers her. With no more than a slight ease in the rainfall, the woman was gone... 

**A note from yours truly…** So ppl's, how d'you like my fic? If I pretend to be just that tad bit civil towards you, and say that I'll put up more chapters, will you review? I don't even mind flames, but only if their CONSTRUCTIVE!! I would like, nay, WELCOME positive opinions, though! I'm a newbie at the whole fanfiction thing, so obviously, this is my very, very first fanfiction! Oh by the way, in your reviews (my gosh, aren't I soo presumptuous, thinking that I'll actually RECEIVE reviews?) I would like you to mention whether you like the way I present my fanfiction, because I really would like my new fic to be user friendly. Is the length of my chapters okay? (Keep in mind that this was just the prologue!) One more thing… Would you guys mind if I asked for a minimum of EIGHT reviews before I put up the next chapter? 

**Toodlie-O's!**

_**Guardian Jaelstar**_


	2. A Lil' Note

**Hey there all!**

Really, really, REALLY sorry that I haven't updated for like FOREVER!! (actually, roughly 4 months). I think that my muse has forsaken me, or perhaps she decided to take a vacation. Yeah, right…

Anywayz, that's beside the point. What I wanted to say is that I've got the rest of my fic. figured, 'xcept that I can't get past the first chapter! If I can't get any inspiration **hint, hint**, then I might have to scrap the rest of the story… Reviews would be sooooo much appreciated… **hint, hint**

Once again, a big 'sorryz' to everybody! 

**~Anghelina~**

**PS.** Is anyobody else out there psyched about 'Alianne'? 


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